Monday, May 29, 2017

A statue of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is located on the south lawn of the State House on 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA.

Long Description:

An 8' high by 3.5' wide bronze statue of John F. Kennedy is depicted walking on a 3.5' wide by 7' long rectangular base, two-tiered, stone base. Kennedy is wearing a suit with a two button jacket and a thin tie. He is walking with his leg slightly bent and behind his right foot. His left hand is touching the flap of his jacket pocket. Eight maple leaves and 68 seedpods are inscribed on the pedestal. They are meant to represent death and regeneration.

The statue was created by Isabel McIlvain in 1988 and dedicated Isabel dedicated on May Dedicated May 29, 1990, the 73rd anniversary of Kennedy’s birth.

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, MA on May 29, 1917. He served as the commander of PT 109 during World War II and was subsequently elected to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate before being the youngest person to be elected President of the United States at age 43 in 1960. He was assassinated while in office on November 22, 1963.

Julia Ward was born on May 27, 1819 in New York City. She was educated by private tutors and in schools for young ladies until she was sixteen. She married physician and social reformer Gamuel Gridley Howe in 1843. Together the couple had six children.

She wrote essays on Goethe, Schiller and Lamartine which were published in the New York Review and Theological Review. She is most famous for writing the lyrics the the Union Civil War anthem The Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1861. After the War she became an activist for pacifism and women's suffrage. She helped found the New England Women's Club and the New England Woman Suffrage Association. In 1869, she became co-leader, with Lucy Stone, of the American Woman Suffrage Association. Howe was elected president of the Association for the Advancement of Women in 1881 and founded the Century Club of San Francisco. In 1890, she helped found the General Federation of Women’s Clubs,

Julia Ward Howe was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 1908. She was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Selected works from Wikipedia:

Poetry:

Passion-Flowers (1854)Words for the Hour (1857)The Battle Hymn of the Republic (1861)From Sunset Ridge: Poems Old and New (1898)Later Lyrics (1866)At Sunset. published posthumously, (1910)

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

The Endecott (a.k.a. Endicott) Pear Tree is located down slope from the parking area behind the Osram Sylvania building at 104 Endicott Street in Danvers, MA. It is both the oldest cultivated tree in America and the oldest fruit tree in America.

Long Description:

The Endecott Pear Tree is a European Pear (Pyrus communis) tree first planted in its current location by the Governor of the Massachusetts bay Colony, John Endecott, sometime about 1632. The tree was brought over from England on the sailing ship Arbella in June 1630.

In 1964 tree was attacked by vandals. They chopped off all the branches and cut the trunk off 6 feet above the ground. However it re-sprouted. The Endecott Pear Tree is now protected by its sheltered location and surrounded by an iron fence. It is doing quite well in its protected location and still bears fruit. A bronze sign at the edge of the parking lot has the emblem of the Colonial Dames XVII Century and is inscribed:

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

America's most famous sociological disaster was caused by mass hysteria. It occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Salem Witchcraft Victims Memorial preserves the memory of the victims. It is located at 176 Hobart Street in Danvers, MA.

Long Description:

Between between February 1692 and May 1693 episodes of mass hysteria swept through the settlements in and around present day city of Salem which resulted in more than 20 women and men being accused of witchcraft, tried, convicted, and executed. The events were centered around the settlement of Salem Village northwest of Salem. The town subsequently changed its name to Danvers.

In 1992, on the 200th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, the citizens of Danvers erected a memorial to 24 victims who were killed as a result of the episodes of mass hysteria. A granite memorial consisting of a granite block inscribed with the dedication. On top of the block are a pair of iron shackles, and a sculpture of an open book with the inscription THE BOOK OF LIFE written across the pages. Behind are a series of five upright granite panels which are inscribed with the names, cause of death, and several quotes from the victims.

The dedication reads:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE INNOCENTS

WHO DIED DURING THE

SALEM VILLAGE WITCHCRAFT HYSTERIA

OF 1692

The first granite panel is inscribed:

“I am an innocent person. I neverhad to do with witchcraft since Iwas born. I am a Gosple woman.”MARTHA CORY“The Lord above knows my innocencyeas att the great day will be knownto men and Angells. I Petition to yourhonours not for my own life for I knowI must die and my appointed time issett but the Lord he knows it is thatif it be possible no more innocentblood may be shed ...”MARY ESTY“If it was the last moment I was tolive, God knows I am innocent ...”ELIZABETH HOW“Well! Burn me, or hang me, I willstand the truth of Christ ...”GEORGE JACOBS, SR.

The second granite panel is inscribed:

Died in jail May 10, 1692SARAH OSBURN of Salem VillageHanged June 10, 1692BRIDGET BISHOP of SalemDied in jail June 16, 1692ROGER TOOTHAKER of BillericaDied in jail previous to July 19, 1692INFANT DAUGHTER to Sarah Goodof Salem VillageHanged July 19, 1692SARAH GOOD of SalemELIZABETH HOW of TopsfieldSUSANNAH MARTIN of AmesburyREBECCA NURSE of Salem VillageSARAH WILDS of Topsfield

The third granite panel has the image of a trial judge and is inscribed:

Hanged September 22, 1692MARTHA CORY of Salem FarmesMARY ESTY of TopsfieldALICE PARKER of SalemMARY PARKER of SalemANN PUDEATOR of SalemWILMOT REDD of MarbleheadMARGARET SCOTT of RowleySAMUEL WARDWELL of AndoverDied in jail December 3, 1692ANN FOSTER of AndoverDied in jail March 10, 1693LYDIA DASTIN of Reading

The fifth granite panel is inscribed:

“Amen. Amen. A false tonguewill never make a guilty person.”SUSANNAH MARTIN“I can say before my Eternalfather. I am innocent & God will clear my innocency.”REBECCA NURSE“The Magistrates, Ministers, Jewries,and all the People in general, beingso much inraged and incensed againstus by the Delusion of the Devil,which we can term no other, by reasonwe know in our own Consciences, weare all innocent Persons.”JOHN PROCTER SR.“ ... I fear not but the Lord in his due timewill make me as white as snow.”JOHN WILLARD

Thursday, May 18, 2017

A granite monument, containing an official citation from the Governor of Massachusetts, marks the spot where the Reed Family claims to have had a physical encounter with a UFO. It is located east of the Old Covered Bridge in Sheffield, MA.

Long Description:

The monument is in the area where Thomas Reed and his younger brother saw a UFO in 1966, 1967 and again in 1969.When Thomas Reed was 6 years old he reports being taken aboard a circular looking vessel by extra-terrestrial beings. In the fall of 1969 he and his younger brother Matthew experienced bright bursts of light through their bedroom window. Thomas was engulfed in the light and his brother was now speaking to an empty bed. An odd stillness ensued and their mother, Nancy, and their grandmother, Marian, were experiencing a cataleptic state.

For decades Thomas Reed worked to have his story vindicated. On November 3, 2015 he obtained a "Citation of Recognition" from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The UFO monument reproduces the citation on the black painted granite monument. The citation is inscribed:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

{Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts}

Thomas E. Reed

On behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

I am pleased to confer upon you this Governor's Citation in recognition

of the off-world incident on September 1st, 1969, which engaged the Reed Family, which

has been established. Your dedicated service to the incident was factually upheld,

founded, and deemed historically significant and true by means of Massachusetts

Historians. The records highlighting the historic event are now officially part of the

About Me

My interest in travel and exploration took me to all 50 states, much of Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, as well as some of Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. As I got older my outdoor activities shifted from hiking to orienteering to geocaching to waymarking.